Turnip Sloppy Joes

Turnip Sloppy Joes. You did read that correctly. Turnips. Sloppy Joes.

What led to the creation of such a recipe is the more interesting part. The recipe itself is surprisingly basic.

This Lent, the emergent community I pastor-- Grace Community Boston-- watched the Humane Society’s powerful documentary Eating Mercifully. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Va6F3iQFc  We spent the next three Sunday’s discussing our role as stewards in God’s creation after coming face to face with the horrific practices of the American meat industry. We began to make powerfully disturbing connections between the prevalent violence in our culture and the violence inherent in the meat industry.

We as a community have decided to take on the following suggestions offered in the documentary: 1) No meat served at any church gatherings 2) Supporting one another in community as we individually move toward a more plant based diet 3) Continuing education and advocacy around eating mercifully, including supporting small farming organizations that have humane practices.

Perhaps this doesn’t sound like a huge leap for a progressive faith community such as Grace. Maybe not, but we love food. We love to gather around food. We love to spend too much money buying delicious and abundant food for our gatherings. So what next? Meat was off the table.

The first Sunday, someone hosted a baked potato bar. Oh the toppings….. swoon.
The next Sunday, baked ziti with TVP. One person was sure the TVP was real ground beef. The teenagers gobbled it down with abandon.
This past Sunday it was my turn.

Kathy Hinds, a member of the community, years passed had taught me how to make meatless sloppy joes using TVP. Over the years I have perfected this recipe with whatever vegetables I have on hand, including zucchini, instead of TVP. This past weekend I had an abundance of turnips. Why turnips? Because Rose’s Bounty food pantry was snowed out last Tuesday and we had lots and lots of turnips left.

Abundance of Turnips + commitment to humane animal practices + Grace’s love of food at sacred gatherings = Abby’s Turnip Sloppy Joes

Step One: In your food processor shred six large turnips. You can also use: carrots, zucchini, potatoes, rutabaga, you name it. Just adjust cooking time accordingly.

Step Two: In your trusty dutch oven saute four yellow onions, plus two red onions, plus eight cloves of garlic. About ten minutes until soft. I also added celery but this isn’t necessary. I heart celery.

Step Three: Add shredded vegetable of choice to onions. Cook until just soft-- a bit aledente.

Step Four: Turn off heat and add the following:

1. 1 ½ cups of ketchup (yes that much!)
2. 3 heaping tbsp of your favorite mustard
3. 2-3 tbsp of brown sugar (I added a bit more b/c let’s be honest, turnips can be pretty bitter!)
4. Dried hot peppers from India that your friend brought back for you… or some spice you like. I would suggest any of the following: red pepper flakes, cumin, or chili pepper.  Anything that goes nicely with the sweet.
5. Small can of tomato paste.
6. Large can of vegetarian baked beans
7. Bag of frozen corn
8. Water if too thick.

Step Five: Heat and combine for about an hour or so on low….. Or dump in a crock pot and leave on low for four+ hours.

Serve on buns with a side salad and lots of chopped fresh tomatoes! Don’t tell anyone what’s in it. They’ll never know.

#eatingmercifully

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